The Prince's Rogue
by Eric The Blue
Summary: What if a new character was introduced into 1/2 Prince? What if he was too good for the game? And if this character met Prince, how would the world of Second Life change? Read and Review
1. Chapter 1

**The Prince's Rogue**

**Authors Note:** So I have had this idea for a story for quite a long time now, and ½ Prince gave me a chance to write it. The story I will be writing will be in the ½ Prince world and it will include the main protagonists, I'm just not sure how much right now (in the second life world, I know how they will be included in real life). If anyone out there is one of those people who hate anything wrong with the storyline; things that don't coincide, I'm warning you now, there will be many differences. This story is an AU, a "what if" story, so while some main parts will coincide, there will be changes. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

**Summary:** Sai is a 20-year-old boy living alone in a city in Taiwan. He just bought a new virtual reality game called Second Life. Sai makes his character and sets out into the world to make himself great. There will be events form the main story of ½ Prince, but this is a story of it's own as well.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own ½ Prince, and I am not making any profit from this story. I do not own any characters in this story besides the ones that I create myself.

This story starts on a sunny day in a city in Taiwan. Our protagonist, Sai, walks into his apartment in the upper-class part of the city. He is a relatively attractive young man, fair skin, short and spiky black hair, about 6'2 and muscular (but not buff). He has an angular face with sharp, intense eyes and a brilliant smile.

He has just gotten back from a grueling day at the Academy of Fine Arts, his teacher may have been young enough to still be in school, but he worked them hard! Even though he was hard pressed to keep up in the class sometimes, he really liked the teacher. He was young enough to be almost a friend to the students in the class, but old and smart enough that he could still teach. His class really turned out lucky for him though; he got the best teacher in the school, and his friend Feng Lan was in his class. It could be said that the class was quite crazy, especially when the conversations got focused on the new game, Second Life, a virtual reality game that everyone seemed obsessed with.

Sai made his way to his kitchen to scrounge up something to eat. In the end he just decided to have cereal to save the trouble of actually making anything.

Once he finished his bowl, he got up and went to his book bag and pulled out a box that had Second Life clearly printed on it. His class had finally gotten to him and he decided to test out this so called, "Amazing Game."

With the game in hand, Sai made his way to the only bedroom in his apartment, deciding it would be better to play the game in Sleep Mode so that he didn't use up time on the game that could be used for other things. He put on the helmet, and he got sucked into the game.

All Sai could see was black, he blinked a few times, and the setting started to form. He was in an open space, with checkered floor and ceiling, and a huge floating chair with a beautiful woman sitting on it. Sai had a double take, but he calmed down as he remembered that he was in a game here, anything could happen, nothing he knew applied.

"Hello," the woman in the chair said, "Welcome to Second Life, I will be helping you create your avatar today."

"Ok, can you just explain to me what choices I have then?"

"Of course, but before you start, I must warn you that you cannot change your race or character late in the game. This is so that the game will be more realistic to the players. So, start creating your persona." Sai felt rushing all around him, and seconds later he was surrounded by a multitude of avatar, avatars of different races and classes.

"You have many races to choose form here; Dwarves, Beasts, Demons, Orcs, Elves, Dark Elves, Elementals, Celestials, and finally, Humans." The woman informed him. "Beasts can be divided into wolves, birds, dogs, and tigers; the Elementals can be divided between Flower Spirits, Tree Spirits, Wind Spirits…"

Sai thought for a moment, "OK, can I see myself as a Beast, a Celestial, and a Dark Elf?"

"One moment," the woman replied, and seconds later all three appeared in the room. Sai examined the three for a few minutes; as a beast, he was a Panther, and yet, it was not a character he was satisfied with, and so, he went on to the Celestial.

While he liked the Celestial, it looked too… Good. He didn't want someone innocent looking, but he did like the wings and the stats that went along with the avatar.

Finally, Sai looked at the Dark Elf, the avatar was stunning, it looked menacing, and yet amazingly attractive, in a dark way.

Sai was debating in the end though; he liked both the Celestial and the Dark Elf, he wondered if he could possibly get the woman to combine some of the traits of both. When he thought about it, it seemed reasonable, made the game more realistic seeing that those two races could breed.

"I was wondering," Sai started, "could you possibly combine the Dark Elf and the Celestial, so that it's a Dark Elf that has black angelic wings, the magic and wisdom of the celestial, and isn't denied access to holy places?"

"I don't know, that could be a difficult request, because the stats of the two are conflicting on some matters," the woman honestly replied, "but I can ask my superiors if you wish? What are you're reasons for changing your avatar this way?"

"I just like the combination, it could be useful, as well as the fact that it should be possible because if this game is realistic, then these two races could have had children like that."

"I guess you're right bout that… Just give me a minute." The woman went silent as her eyes blanked over. Sai just stood there waiting for a few seconds, thinking about how he would shape his character once into the actual game.

He was thinking some kind of… ranger? He wasn't sure what to call it, but a bow and arrows, daggers, and his main weapon would be a staff. He could use some magical attacks, but only as support, it would be a well-rounded character.

"I have talked to my superiors, and while they debated over the topic, they find your conclusion logical, and have agreed to your request, just tell me the specifics of the customization." Her sudden arrival started Sai out of his thoughts and he jumped in surprise. Then a thought came to him.

"Wait, you said superiors? That means you're not an NPC? I'm sorry then, I never got your name. I am Sai." Sai suddenly felt awkward, he had been treating her like an NPC the whole time and had not even been polite to her at all.

"Oh, it's quite alright, most people think that, I'm used to it now. My game name is Petal. Now, about those altercations?"

"Oh, of course, so I want the basic Dark Elf figure and stats, but with black celestial wings, the Celestials power of magic and wisdom, and peoples acceptance of Celestials." Sai stated, thinking if there was any traits that he missed.

"Ok, that is easy enough, here is what you're avatar will look like." That said; a figure popped into existence, smoke unraveling from around its naked body. The "Dark Celestial" as it will be called, was a heavenly creature with an aura of darkness surrounding it. It had a tall figure, muscular body and long blonde hair in a low ponytail, it reminded him greatly of himself. It was perfect in Sai's eyes, but he also knew that he would get many girls to follow him once they saw. Even so, it pleased him, and he told Petal that it was acceptable.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Because of the combination of the two races, my superiors are giving you a choice of making him twice as fast, or twice as strong." Petal informed him of the choice, and as he was about to reply, she stated, "You really are lucky, only one other player in the whole game has had their wish granted like this."

Sai was startled at this, "Seriously, only one other? What change did they make, and why did they get it?"

"Well, it was because she was the first player to start the game, and she wanted to be a male for some reason."

"Hmm, sounds like an odd request, but to each there own. Ok, lets get on to finishing the character."

"Well, you need to answer the question first…"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, it completely slipped my mind. I will choose Speed."

"Ok, now for the finishing touches, what clothes will he wear, what additional stats will he get, and what continent do you want to start your game-playing experience on?"

"Ok, well I think I know what clothes will be good on him, on the bottom layer will be skin tight cloth clothes, gray in color. I want leather boots; almost skin tight pants, vest and gloves. Finally, with all those will be a cloak with a hood, kind of ratty looking at the ends, frayed and ripped, but in good condition… Wait, I just thought of the word, worn, a worn out cloak."

"Ok, I understand," Petal then snapped her fingers for dramatic effect and His avatar was suited out, "Is this acceptable?"

"It's perfect. Now, for the stats, how many extra points do I have and what are the options?" Sai really wanted to get finished in the creation room and start his experience in the game.

"Well then, you get 57 points extra with the character you picked, and you can spend them on any of the following; Strength, Agility, Speed, Intelligence, Wisdom, Magic, and Stamina. Take your pick."

'57?' Sai thought, 'that's an odd number…' Sai thought on those stats for a few minutes and figured that if he was going to be a ranger he wanted Agility, Stamina and Speed the most, but he still would need others, Strength especially. He remembered that Celestials had Wisdom and Magic already applied, so he didn't need to put any on those since they weren't too big of a deal for him. All the others came with the Dark Elf, but mostly Speed and Agility, so those would be really high for him.

"Ok, so I have decided on 15 to Speed, Agility and Stamina. That leaves 12, so 6 to both Intelligence and Strength, and that should be it for the stats." Sai said, and left it to Petal to decide what to choose next.

Petal looked pensive for a moment, and then said, "Ok, before we choose your continent, make sure the attributes of your character are what you need them to be."

"Attributes? You mean the physical features?" Sai inquired.

"Yes, like hair color, height, eye color, et cetera…" Petal answered.

"Ok then, I like the hair color, but I don't want it in a ponytail, just have it long and straight down. As for the height, maybe just a smidgen taller, to make him look more regal? Blue eyes, angular face… yep, I think we're done with that." Sai really was pleased with how his avatar looked and couldn't wait to bring it out into the game.

"Oh yeah, what about my name?" Sai questioned her. That would have been a bad part to leave out.

"I can't believe I forgot that! Well, do you have any ideas for what you want it to be?"

"Yeah, I'm deciding between 'Ranger' and 'Shade'. What do you think?"

"Personally, I like the name Shade quite a bit better, is that your final decision?"

"Yep, so write that in and I'm ready," Sai finished happily.

"Well, since that is all finished, where do you want to be born? North, South, East, West or Central Continent?"

"Are there any differences between them? Anything that could sway me?" Sai asked.

"There's not much difference, just the majority of players choose the Central, and a few different variety of mobs on the different continents. Other than that, not much," Petal replied.

"Well then, I think I will choose the Northern Continent if that's alright," Sai decided.

"Of course, you are being born now," Petal, said, before he was being sucked out of the game.

The last thing he heard before everything went black was, "I used 43 points towards beauty, that's why you had such an odd number."

'Damn that woman….'

Shade (I will be calling his in game avatar Shade form now on, Shade for out in the real world) landed heavily on his feet after being sent into the world, almost falling over. He stuck out a hand to catch himself, but instead of a wall, like he expected, he had something soft and round in his hand. Warily, he looked over at what he had caught, and to his terror, he saw a young woman standing there with a mortified expression on her face.

"Oh my God! I'm terribly sorry," Shade apologized, letting go of the woman's breast. This was a horrible way to start the game.

The woman shrieked and smashed Shade on the head repeatedly, screaming, "PERVERT!" The woman then caught a look of Shade's face looked painfully up at her and she blushed, looking away.

She looked back after a moment, a little more composed, before screaming out, "I'm sooo sorry! Do you need any help? Money, weapons? ANYTHING FOR YOU!"

While this freaked out Shade, he decided not to let the opportunity go to waste. He started out his sentence, "I thank you great . . ."

However, before he could finish, the entire woman population in the area who heard the girl scream, came rushing over. When they saw him, they, just like the first, freaked out.

"HE'S SO HOT!"

"TEAM UP WITH ME, I CAN SUPPORT YOU!"

"HEY! HE'S MINE!"

"I CAN GIVE YOU MONEY! I LOVE YOU 3"

And so on with the screaming for his attention and love. When he saw the avatar in the creation room, he didn't think he was THIS good looking! And then he remembered… Petal added to his beauty stats… Damn her…

'Well, guess I should use this to my advantage,' Shade thought.

"Well ladies, can I have your attention? I have just started this game and I would appreciate it if I could have some items to start me off. Perhaps, a few daggers, a bow with some arrows, and maybe some potions?" Shade inquired upon them gently, so to make them fall for him even more. He wanted the best he could get to start him off.

Immediately, hands shot out from all over the crowd, some holding daggers, some holding bow and arrows, some holding both and/or more.

Shade was over-whelmed by the amount of items presented to him, but he soon recovered and examined the vast array of weapons. He quickly sorted out which weapons were satisfactory, and which were not. Looking at the daggers, he knew that having around 5 or 6 would be the best choice, and so he grabbed a few of higher looking quality, a sturdy build, and grabbed them. He also grabbed some fancier looking ones and some throwing knives just in case.

In the case of the bows, there was one in particular that stood out to him. It was a beautifully crafted, yew bow. Given the way the owner was holding it, they didn't realize the value that they held in their hands, and he gladly took it from them. Another good-looking bow caught his eye, and he decided to grab it, just for insurance reasons. And of course, to go along with the bows, Shade bought numerous arrows, not really bothering to check the condition and quality of most.

Finally, Shade grabbed some of the potions offered to him, not checking any of them, knowing that there was no obvious way to discern a good potion from a weaker one. Along with the arrows, he managed to grab some of the many gold pouches being offered up from the many ladies.

Once Shade had gotten all of the necessary items, he said to all the women around him, "Thank you all for your help, however, at this point I have all the items I need and I have to get started on the game. So, if you ladies will please let me through, and I'll be on my way…" Those words died in his throat though, because when he said he had to get going, they all started screaming again and trying to latch onto him.

"He's better than PRINCE!"

"Mr. Elf here is OUR Bishie! 3"

Such opinions were continuously voiced through the crowd, many comparing him to the Central Continents Prince. Shade had heard Prince mention a few times back at school, perhaps a bit more than would be expected, seeing as his teacher was a member of Prince's team.

Thanking God for the stats he invested in, Shade was able to maneuver himself out of the ferocious mob, and make his way to the nearest store.

As he walked into the non-descript store on the outskirts of the city, Shade contemplated the items that he had gained.

He knew that he had many more daggers than he needed, so he could make a profit off of that, as well as perhaps selling one of the two bows he collected. Lastly, judging by the size of the pouches that he received from the more generous ladies, he was quite affluent, possibly having around 100 gold coins. Unheard of for a beginning character, seeing as he started out with automatically having only a few coppers, enough for a crumby knife.

The first this that Shade decided to do, was have the shopkeeper appraise his items. He had read in the manual that that was a skill the NPC shop owners possessed, for the players convenience.

"Hello sir, what can I do for you today?" The shopkeeper asked, as soon as he saw Shade.

"Hello, yes, I was wondering if you could appraise some of my items for me?" Shade replied to him.

"Of course, just hand them to me for a few seconds, if you will."

***I'm making my own value system with the money in the game, but still using the originals currency*******

Shade handed all the daggers and the bows over, not really bothering, once again with the arrows or potions, seeing as arrows were cheap and potions weren't something to be appraised.

The shopkeeper examined all of the items for a few seconds each, and then stated, "Well, all of the daggers you have here are well made, but relatively cheap, so you will need to buy more once these wear out or if you get stronger. That is, all except for these ones," the shopkeeper held up two of the fancier daggers he picked out. "These ones," the NPC said, "are rather expensive, they are worth 200 gold coins as a pair."

Shade gasped, 'on of the girls on the street had those and was willing to give them up? The people in this game have no common sense', he thought. "Can you tell me more about those daggers, please?" Shade queried of him.

"Of course, they are from the thieves class, give 15 extra speed and agility, and increased damage by multiplying your level by the regular damage." The shop owner informed him, "You are one lucky guy."

Shade pondered this fact for a short time, wondering if he should sell the daggers for other equipment, or work being a thief, or at least having thief's weapons, into his character. He decided in the end that a thief class could work with his plans for a character, and as far as he knew there were no restrictions on the amount of classes one has.

Either way, Shade decided to ask, "Is it possible for a person to have multiple jobs?"

"Yes, it is, however most people assume not and only choose one. This may be because people don't want to fulfill the requirements of multiple jobs."

'That could become very valuable information, I have to remember that.' "Thanks for the information, oh, and can you buy those daggers?" Shade asked, pointing out some of the worse ones that he didn't need.

"Yes, and for the information about the bows, the yew one you have picked up is not valuable, put is a very competent bow, especially for someone starting off. You're other bow is considerably weaker, but it is fancy and I can buy it from you for 12 gold pieces." The shopkeeper held up each bow as he described them.

"Ok, that would be fine, and once that transaction is done, can I see your weapon catalogue?" He wanted to find out soon what weapons he should be working to, he had the daggers down with two good main ones, two boots knifes and two throwing knifes in his sleeves. He also had a good bow and enough arrows for quite a while, now he just needed to know what his starting weapon would be, or if he would get one from his job.

"Well, I have collected the gold for you any you have made 26 gold coins and 12 coppers from this sale. I have the catalogue here for you." He handed it over to Shade, who opened it up to take a look.

Inside he saw there were categories on bows, arrows, knife and daggers, swords, staffs, harps, potions, and priest augmenters. Shade quickly glanced through the bow section and the dagger section just to see what he may be getting in the future. Some of the things there were just stunning to a beginner's eye, the stats over-whelming. What he had now was only for the beginning; he would get those weapons some day, maybe even better.

However, when Shade looked in the staff section, he was severely disappointed. The staffs offered in this game were all for mages or necromancers, the game makers didn't seem to think of the option of them being used for melee weapons, but he couldn't fault them, it was an obscure field. He was still disappointed though; he couldn't go through completely with his ideal character. 'Well, that's too bad,' he thought, 'guess I'll just check out some other weapons.'

Lastly, Shade opened up the catalogue to the sword section. In that section, he saw many nice swords that he wouldn't mind, but it wasn't until he got into the rare items section of the swords, where they show weapons they don't own, but are in the game, that he was excited. On the second to last page, a sword caught his eye. It was a double-ended sword, like a staff with bladed ends. It was practically what he was thinking about with a staff, but this had a blade. As he continued looking at the sword, a description of it popped out at him. 'This double-ended staff sword can be separated at the hilt into dual blades.'

'I wonder if all double weapons are this way' thought Shade. To test it out, he took the daggers out of there sheathes on his side where he had placed them, and put their hilts together.

'CLINK!' The two daggers touched hilts and all of a sudden! Nothing happened…

'Well, I guess that was to be expected' Shade thought, 'I'm not that lucky.'

"Thanks so much, I think that I will buy this plain iron short sword here. Here's the gold." Shade told the owner.

"Thanks you for the purchase, and here is your sword." The NPS said, handing the sword over to Shade.

He thanked the NPC for his help and walked out of the store.

'This game is turning out to be more intricate than I thought," Shade pondered over this game and all the things running through his head that needed to be done.

Before he even thought about getting jobs in the game, he had to train to a high enough level to complete the entrance quests. He knew that for warriors, he had to collect 10 wolf claws, however, not all wolves dropped fangs so he had to be prepared to fight numerous wolves, and something he was about as close to being able to do at this point as he was getting girls to stop thinking he was a Bishie.

Shade set off to the caves right off the border of the city where he could find rats to train up some starter levels. The walk from the store to the caves was relatively short and he was there in almost no time at all.

Shade saw the caves first as he walked over a hill, and really, they weren't intimidating or anything, just small little caves in the hillside. However, Shade was excited by the prospect of his first real game play and speed to the caves as fast as he could.

As soon as he took his first step into the caves, a horde of rats jumped straight at him! And our brave hero… He ran.

Shade noticed as he ran out of the cave, the rats seemed to hit an invisible force field right on the border of the cave. 'I can use this to my advantage…'

When we return to out brave hero, we notice that he is standing on the border of the cave and the grass, with rat bodies piled up all on one side of him in the cave, not on scratch on his body. For this cave, Shade has his bow out and has been picking off rats as they came to the wall. It seems that Shade has taken advantage of the barrier and killed them once they hit the wall.

Finally, Shade turned around and looked away from the cave. 'I wonder if level 27 is enough for the jobs, I've only been training for two hours or so, I don't know if that's enough.'

"Well, I guess I should go to 30 to make sure!"

Right as he was about to walk back over to the cave, this time to go in to get a better feel of combat, 2 players; a girl and a boy, walked up to him hearing what he said.

"Level 30 for what? You only really need to be a level 10 for the jobs. And you're dressed as a noob, why haven't you gotten armor is you're close to level 30?"

"Only 10! I've been killing rats for hours to level up to 30, just to find I only needed level 10?" Shade screamed.

"You got to level 30 just on rats? How long were you here for, that's got to have taken a while." The girl in the group exclaimed.

"Only a two hours, I just found a glitch and took advantage of it so that I could kill more rats than usual, this is my 5th cave, and the other ones have completely filled entrances."

"Good Lord! Why don't you fight other monsters that give more experience?" The man asked.

"I don't know where to find them, and I got caught up in the moment." Shade replied.

"Well, why don't we all go back into town, you can get upgrades and then we can show you the more advanced monsters," The girl stated, and Shade quickly agreed.

The trio walked back to the town, and Shade took the chance to get answers to some much-needed questions.

"So, I've been thinking about what jobs I want to take, but the problem is I don't know most of the types."

"Ok, well the main classes in this game include Thieves, Warriors, Mages, Priests, Archers, Bards, Assassins and Bounty Hunters." The girl, who's name turned out to be Rose, stated.

"Hmm, quite a list. I was thinking about being an Archer, Warrior and a Thief, but I really don't like using a bow so that's out. Maybe I'll just combine the Thief and the Warrior." Shade said, startling the other two by informing them that he wanted more than one job.

"**Two** jobs? What do you mean! You can't have two jobs, it's unheard of!" The man- his name being Olaf- shouted at him. "No one has EVER done it, so why do you think that YOU can?"

"Just because no one ever thought about it, or tried it doesn't mean it can't be done, just that I will be the first. And why not, isn't it a good idea?" Shade asked him, "Don't you get more money from having two jobs, more skills?"

"I guess you're right, but, but it's just inconceivable!" Rose said.

"Yes, inconceivable," Olaf agreed.

"I do not think that word means what you think it means," Shade chastised the two. "And I think it's more like mixing the jobs for a single class, the mixture kind of reminds me of a Rogue, wouldn't you agree? A battle-ready rogue."

"Yes, so it does. But this game doesn't have Rogues, the closest thing is an Assassin or a Thief." Rose informed him.

"I know, but if this game is so free reign, then why can't I pick two jobs and combine them?" Shade logic-fucked them.

"Ok, you win. Can we just get on to getting new armor and tools so we can go grind some monsters?" Olaf asked.

Shade looked back at him, he was looking impatient. "Of course, we're already back at town so lets get a move on."

The group first walked into the general store near the middle of town to sell all the junk that Shade picked up from the rats. In total, Shade had collected 132 rat claws, 23 knives, 1 gem and 327 gold coins. All in all, Shade was happy with his progress into the game.

Shade took the items to the counter and handed them over to the NPC, who valued each coin at a little less than one gold coin each, and each claw as ½ a gold coin. The sum of that adds up to 86 more coins to Shades wealth, and the gem itself is worth 65 gold.

Shade counted up his money and found that he had around 500 gold coins. He could buy anything that a beginner could covet. Then he realized that he wasn't a beginner anymore and he needed non-beginner weapons.

"Well come on, I need to get my armor and a new sword before we go." Shade told the two who were talking quietly in a corner.

"Huh? Oh, ok. Let's get going." Olaf said, relieved to do something.

The trio set of once again to find a weapons shop with stronger weapons than Shade possessed.

"So, why aren't you getting a new bow or daggers?" Rose questioned him.

"Well, I found that I don't feel comfortable using a bow, so I'm giving that up, and my daggers are 20 damage average, and the damage gets multiplied by my current level. So the damage is now at about 550-600 damage. Adequate, don't you think?" Shade asked, enjoying their stunned faces.

"600! You're serious? How does a beginner like you own that?" Olaf yelled! Both their astonishments were clear on their faces.

"Very." Shade replied.

"Jeez, where in HELL did you get that?" Rose asked him.

"Oh, all the girls in the game wanted to give me items when they saw my face, and this was one thing… Say, why don't you scream and yell at how handsome I am?" Shade said, wondering what was different about Rose.

"Umm, you see… well… I'm Lesbian." Rose finished quickly.

"Oh… Well that answers that mystery… Is that the weapons shop we're going to?" Shade asked, happy to change topics.

"Yes, that's the one," Olaf responded, "Best in the town."

"Does it sell armor as well?" Shade asked him.

"Armor, weapons, potions, you name it, they have it." Rose answered him.

Shade opened the door to shop with the other two following behing him, "Time to start an adventure!"

**A/N: **This is my first story so read and review. I hope you enjoy. If you are going to criticize, make it constructive. I know I ended this at a bad point but I could think of how to keep going right now.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Prince's Rogue**

**Job Search**

**Author's Note: **Wow. It has been waaaay too long. I started on this chapter soon after the first, but I never finished. I have to thank Russian Snow for the comment. It really got my attention and now I'm writing again. Again, really sorry for the wait, I hope the chapter is worth it.

In reply to "Kyo," an anonymous reviewer, I have to say that when I said that it was an attempt to be humorous by spouting nonsense. That will not have any significance in the story.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own ½ Prince, and I am not making any profit from this story. I do not own any characters in this story besides the ones that I create myself.

After lots of shopping to get Shade suited up in armor that fit his level, the three left to get Shade into a guild. Shades new armor looked similar to his old armor, but with some additions. He had a studded leather vest of much higher quality as well as drake skin boots. His pants looked the same, but like the rest of his armor, they were much stronger. He also decided to by arm guards and a new cloak. The cloak was a very dark grey and reached down to the ground. All in all, he looked intimidating.

Other than clothes, Shade bought a new sword that suited his level as well. It was a well-made steel sword that was slightly larger than his short sword from before. However, it was still suited to his character by being light and maneuverable, while dealing 750 damage on average. Shade was happy with what he bought, to say the least.

Rose suggested that they go to the Warriors Guild first because the acceptance quest would be extremely for Shade since he was far past the required level. As they walked towards their destination, Shade realized something and stopped in his tracks.

"I'm so sorry Rose, Olaf, I never asked what jobs you guys are in."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Rose said, blushing. "I'm a priest, but I'm not very good. I'm only level 28."

"Stop it Rose, you're amazing for your level," Olaf said. "And I'm a level 31 Warrior if you couldn't tell. I go for brute strength."

Shade thought about it and realized that the trio made a great team. With two Warriors, they were strong in battle, and with a priest to back them up they would be even harder to kill. 'Maybe I'll stay with them,' Shade thought, 'and now we just need a Mage and maybe an Archer.'

"Are you two going to help me all the way through getting into the guild?" Shade asked them.

"If you want us to. And maybe we can be a real team," Rose responded.

"Yeah, we need to team up if we want to do well," Olaf agreed.

Shade smiled at both of their responses and they continued walking to their destination, the famed Warriors Guild of the Northern Continent. They were lucky to be right next to where the guild's HQ was and they took the chance to go there to get Shade accepted.

Of course, that was before Shade realized that the term 'close,' was relative. Rose told him they were right next to the HQ…

They had been walking for 3 hours. He sure hoped it was right around the next turn.

"Alright! We're almost there," Rose told the company.

"YES! My feet are killing me," Shade responded. He picked up the pace, ready to arrive.

"Yep," Rose said with a smile, "Only 3 more hours!"

"NOOOO!"

PR-PR-PR-PR

The trio trudged onwards towards the Guild and Shades future for 3 more hours before they saw a steeple in the distance. Shade suddenly stopped his complaining and instead jumped for joy. Olaf and Rose looked on in amusement.

"Finally! I thought Shade would never stop," muttered Olaf.

"Hey! I can hear you!" Shade retorted, "And I wouldn't have complained if Rose hadn't said it was a short trip!"

The trio walked around the last bend on their journey to the center of the Northern Continent, shaking in their boots in anticipation. At least, Shade was. The other two had already seen it before so they weren't particularly excited. They finally rounded the bend and they all stopped and gaped in amazement.

"What the hell happened here?" Asked Shade.

"I have no clue," replied Olaf. "It wasn't like this three weeks ago when I cam here."

"It looks like it was bombed or something," Rose added. "We better go see what happened and if Shade can still get registered."

They gazed upon the destroyed structure as they walked to the front gate. The large dome that used to be the roof of the structure was mostly destroyed. They couldn't tell what did it but there were numerous holes spread over the surface. The pillars at the front gate were barely standing; some had chunks missing from the middle that made them completely useless. The front steps were worn and big holes made parts of it un-climbable. The side wings of the majestic building were wrecked, the walls had been torn down and the roofs looked like they had been partially burned. It looked like it had gone through a war and barely pulled through. (Look up destroyed Capitol building on Google and look at the Fall Out 3 version).

They slowly walked up to the front gate, Rose in the lead, and went inside the building. The inside was no better. It was like a war zone with all the stands and rubble inside. Rose approached one of the men in the stalls to get directions.

"Ok, so we need to go to the center of the building," Rose told them once she got instructions. They walked off again, looking at their surroundings and amazed at all the destruction. There was rubble littering the ground and workers scrambled about to clean the interior.

The three of them reached the center of the building where they found an NPC who could give Shade the mission to be accepted to the Guild. They approached him, only to be shoved backwards.

"Hey, wait in line like the rest of us!" one player shouted at them, pointing backwards where there was a line of 20 or 30 people.

"You go, we'll find out what happened here," Olaf said to Shade as he walked off with Rose.

"Uh huh. You just don't want to wait in line," muttered Shade. He walked to the back of the line and started to daydream.

As he stood behind the mass of people waiting to get a job he thought of being a heroic warrior, saving damsels in distress and slaying dragons. He would wear a suit of shining armor and ride a majestic white horse. His name would be spread through the realm and he would be a revered figure. He imagined riding into town where all the towns' folk cheered for him. He heard 'Oh Shade marry me!' and 'Shade, you're my hero!' and-

"Shade, wake up! We know what happened!" He heard outside of his dream.

"Huh? What?" Shade grunted, still in his half asleep mode. He looked around and saw Rose and Olaf standing next to him.

"A dragon flew by two days ago and attacked the Guild. No one knows why but there's going to be a party going out to find it sometime soon," Rose told Shade, looking at Olaf to continue.

"They're accepting anyone level 40 and up to go with them. They say they need every sword they can get. We should try to level up and go. If we work quick we might beat the deadline," Olaf told him.

Shade was intrigued, after all, he was just dreaming of slaying a dragon. "When's the deadline? I don't know if I can manage 10 levels."

"We don't know yet, but if we concentrate and do lots of training then I think all of us can get there," Rose answered.

"Hey! Next! I don't have all day!" The NPC who gave out the jobs called, looking rather pissed.

The trio hurried up to the man and Shade stepped forward to speak with him.

"Hello, I would like to apply to be a Warrior," Shade told the NPC.

"Yes, I know," the NPC replied. "You can choose what you want to do for the quest. Either bring back 10 wolf fangs or defend the guild from monsters for two hours."

Shade turned to consult with the other two but they told him it was him choice so he should let the NPC know before he got annoyed at them wasting his time.

"I think I'll choose to defend the guild. Do I get a reward or experience for this mission or only for later one?" Shade asked him.

Now the NPC was getting annoyed with Shade and he replied angrily, "Of course you will! You get a sword and money from it! Now get out of here! I have things to do!"

"I thought you would have picked the wolves. It wouldn't have taken two hours and we would have had more time to train," said Rose, confused at Shade's decision.

"I chose this because I saw a poster on the walls that advertised that the guild would give lessons to members for a small fee. You get experience and they teach you a new move," Shade responded, pointing to a poster on the opposite wall.

Shade then walked off to find where he would have to stand guard for the guild. Hopefully he could get lessons during the sentry work.

He walked in a circle around the building with the two others tailing close behind him before he found an NPC by the gate who looked like he might be able to tell Shade what he needed to do.

"Excuse me? Do you know where I should go for the mission to protect the guild?" One other player asked the NPC from beside the trio.

"What do I look like? A servant? Ask someone else you asshole!" The NPC responded.

'Phew… I'm glad I wasn't the one to ask," Shade thought, deciding it would be best to ask someone else.

Rose, Shade and Olaf stepped outside where they saw what looked like a commander of the guards giving orders to a multitude of NPC's and players alike. It looked like their best bet so they headed over there.

"Ok! I want Corporal White Horn's men to go east and scout the area! Colonel Raving Thorns' men will go west and recruit men! Everyone else is to stand guard around the perimeter and make rounds through the area to make sure everything is clear!" The commander yelled at all the surrounding men and watched as they all dispersed.

"Sir, do I need to check in with you first to start my mission?" Shade asked, walking up to the Commander.

"I just said it 10 seconds ago! Just go do what you were assigned to! You'll get all the credit you deserve!" The commander informed him before turning on his heels and marching away, leaving Shade standing alone, awkwardly.

Knowing a dismissal, Shade turned to his companions and told them that he would start his watch and they should start their training so they could reach level 40.

Once they were out of sight, Shade drew his own weapons and started to walk the perimeter of the building, already bored.

PR-PR-PR-PR

Shade was leaning against a tree in the middle of the forest right outside the guild, and had been for the last 20 minutes, hoping something interesting would happen.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shade saw movement, and the movement excited him.

'Yes! Finally something is happening!' He exclaimed in his head, and ran off towards where he saw the creature.

After only a minute he caught up with what turned out to be a wild wolf in a clearing. Shade grinned at his fortune and pulled out his sword, ready to get into a fight. Right as he stepped forward to engage the wolf he heard a loud growl from behind him. He slowly turned around, cautious of what made the noise and gulped when he saw he was surrounded by at least 30 wolves.

PR-PR-PR-PR

Shade lay panting in a pool of blood, surrounded by the bodies of the wolves that had attacked him.

"And I didn't even level up from all this. All I got was a little gold and a cruddy dagger!" Shade exclaimed, pissed that he was so close to leveling up but didn't make it.

He slowly got off the ground and started to walk out of the clearing to get back on patrol, wondering why it took so much effort to kill the wolves when they were so low level.

"Maybe because I never actually trained to fight-" Shade started to say, but was cut off when a huge paw came out of nowhere and slammed into him, throwing him 20 feet away.

He grunted as he impacted a tree and he rolled over to see what hit him. The Wolf King of the pack he just decimated had come out to play!

Shade stood up and got into a ready and firm stance to prepare himself to fight the new, difficult opponent that presented itself to him. He readied his sword in front of himself and waited for the beast to attack.

All of a sudden, the Wolf King sprung forward, shooting at great speeds towards Shade. However, Shade found that he could follow the Wolf's movements easily and jumped to the right making the Wolf King miss his attack.

Shade was surprise by his newfound agility and speed, but decided to use them to his advantage. While the Wolf King was still disoriented from missing his prey, Shade jumped forward and slashed at the Wolf's back.

"-200" said a damage counter that sprung up once Shade hit the Wolf King. Shade realized that while it seemed like a lot of damage, it would take a long time to kill the monster with those attacks because of its high armor and health.

Shade quickly stabbed the Wolf King once more for 150 damage before jumping quickly away from a swipe from the Wolf King that would have hurt had it connected.

The Wolf King kept on attacking and Shade lifted up his sword, parrying a blow that would have taken his head off. His sword was interlocked with the claws of the wolf and he used it to his advantage to draw one of his daggers and quickly stab the Wolf King in the side for 50 damage, as well as allowing him room to back away.

Shade decided that since it was a serious fight he should try using the special attacks he learned when he was leveling up earlier on the rats. First, he activated the sword ability, Frost Blade, which would slow the enemies' speed and agility by 15% for 10 seconds once hit, and it would continue if they were hit again.

Quickly, Shade darted forward and hit the Wolf King once more in order to slow him down so he could prep for his next ability, Shredding Gale, a wind attack that would send a blade of wind at the opponent and shred the body where it hits.

Since the Wolf King was slowed by the attack, Shade had time to get in a stance in front of him and send out his most powerful attack.

"SHREDDING GALE!" Shade yelled out, swinging his blade with all the force he could muster and watched as an enormous blade made of air rushed from his blade to connect with the torso and head of the Wolf King.

"GWAHHHHH!" The Wolf King roared once hit, the pain was unbearable. It fell onto its knees and toppled onto the ground.

Shade looked on with a cold look in his eyes, no pity for the monster. In fact, Shade almost looked pleased, small grin was carved in his face as he looked at the Wolf King, near death.

Shade stepped forward to the Wolf King who looked up at Shade, fear glinting in its eyes. Shade grabbed his sword once more and lifted it above his head.

"Rest In Peace," and he stabbed downward with his sword, hearing the metal slide through soft flesh and the final moan of the Wolf King as it passed into the beyond.

Shade suddenly looked green, his face marred with grief. He no longer looked pleased at the violence; he now looked stricken to the bone. He fell forward onto his knees, his head held in his hands.

"I can't believe I enjoyed that… I just slaughtered these things for almost no reason, and now I'm glad? What the fuck is wrong with me?" Shade asked himself, a desperate tone in his voice.

He kneeled down, panting, desperate to know why he felt like he did and why he couldn't stop fighting. Shade didn't stand up for a long time. Instead, he contemplated in silence.

Shade finally calmed himself and resolved not to go crazy like that again. This was a game that required fighting, but he would not lose himself again when fighting.

With that problem behind him, Shade stood up and walked to the corpse of the dead Wolf King. He reached down for the body and found a sack of coins and a sword hidden on the body. As soon as he touched them an alert popped into the air in front of his face.

"Items Found: 1 Iron Sword, 34 gold coins; Experience Gained: 430 exp; Shade has leveled up to Level 28!" The alert bubble told him, and then disappeared. A light enveloped Shade as he experienced the tell tale feel of additional strength and speed that came with leveling up.

Relieved at finally leveling up, Shade walked off back into the woods to finish his mission. He still had an hour left…

PR-PR-PR-PR

Shade finally finished his rounds of the guild an hour later, exhausted from everything. In the end, he had to fight 5 more bears and a minor demon in the woods after he finished fighting against the Wolf King. And to top it off, his sword got shattered by one of the bears when Shade got caught off guard and barely parried. He had to use his daggers for the rest of the fights. And while they were powerful, they weren't as strong as his sword. (**Note: When I stated the damage the daggers do in the previous chapter, that damage is when they both hit, since they are a pair. One hit with one dagger does half of what I said, which was 600).**

Rose and Olaf were waiting for Shade at the front gate with grins on their faces. They had spent the two hours getting training and both of them had leveled up once and learned a new technique and gotten better at their fighting abilities. They were pretty excited to show off what they knew and walked up to Shade once they saw him in the distance.

"Hey Rose, Olaf!" called Shade once he saw his accomplices approaching him from the gates. He heaved a bag over his shoulders and walked over to meet them.

"Shade," Olaf greeted, "You look battered."

"What, did you fight a Wolf King?" Rose asked, a small smile on her face.

"Ha, how did you know?" Shade asked, "He came out after I decimated his pack."

"I think everyone in the guild noticed your fight. You must have ripped up 20 trees with your last attack," Rose replied.

Oh. He didn't know the attack was _that _powerful.

"Hehehe…" Shade chuckled sheepishly. "Enough about me, what happened while I was gone?"

Olaf and Rose glanced at each other before reaching into their respective inventories.

Rose pulled out a short sword with a beautiful maroon pommel that matched her short, red hair. She swung it around a few times before palming the blade and handing it to Shade to inspect.

"I purchased it as a back-up incase neither of you are available to defend me. It's not amazing, but it has 200 damage per hit," Rose informed him, reaching to take back her sword.

"It's good. I'm happy you are invested in your own protection as well," Shade replied. Next, he glanced at Olaf who was decked out in completely new gear.

"During the training I realized that my equipment was sorely lacking, so I went to the store and exchanged everything." Olaf then unsheathed a massive broadsword from its sheath on his back.

As Olaf reached back, Shade noticed how Olaf's new armor was form fitting, even though it was made out of pure steel plates. It was an intimidating look, especially with Olaf's massive 6'7 frame and crew cut blonde hair.

Olaf held up his new sword and the metal glinted in the light. Overall, the sword was rather simple except for the thin carvings in the blade that allowed it to channel energy into attacks.

"It has a base damage of 850-900, but when I channel energy power into the blade it can go up to 1100 damage. The clerk saw how large I was and immediately recommended this sword."

Shade nodded as he absorbed all the information. He glanced around at the activity around him as he planned his next move. He looked towards the mission wall and began to walk over, intent on getting a high level mission to speed up his training.

"Wait a second," Rose called out, "You never told us what you learned."

"Oh," Shade muttered, "Just a attack called Sheering Gale and a sword ability called Frost Blade." He began to walk again before turning around once more.

"Oh, and my sword broke so I'm going to grab a mission and then buy a new sword."

Rose stepped forward, "Why not take a few lessons instead of taking a mission? You have to spend money instead of making some, but it levels you up more quickly and you can learn new moves."

Shade paused. He contemplated his options for a moment. Finally, he turned his gaze to Rose and opened his mouth.

"I think not. I can get more out of a mission, and honestly, I don't feel accomplished by using lessons," Shade retorted sharply, staring at Olaf and Rose.

This time Olaf was the one to answer, putting a hand on Rose's shoulder to hold her back.

"Solo missions can be quite difficult, especially if you want a hard one that will be worth your time."

This grabbed Shade's attention, but not in the way the Olaf had intended. His eyes brightened and he quickened his pace to the mission board.

"It's not fun without a challenge!" Shade called out, "I'll meet you back here when I'm done."

Shade strode up the wall and his gaze panned over the available missions for people of his skill level.

'A mission request to clear a nest of bandits, possibly.'

'A town has been beset by a demon, boring.'

'Kidnappers planning to sell to the black market, not my kind of thing.'

'Ahh, here's one. An assassination request on the Master of a nearby fortress, right up my alley…'

Shade reached forward and snatched the paper from the wall. He scrutinized the ink on the paper for a minute before nodding in content and folded the mission up into his cloak. He quickly stepped away from the board and was about to seek out the nearest weapon shop.

"Sir, you have yet to collect your mission rewards," said the NPC manning the mission board. The NPC stepped forward with a small bag in his hands.

Shade gratefully took the bag from him and walked into a corner of the great hall to open it and identify his new items.

It only took a moment, but Shade found that he had 30 gold coins in his new bag, as well as a sword that he had yet to analyze. Shade reached his arm into the bottom of the bag and his hand encountered a thin hilt topped with a petal shaped guard. His fingers wrapped comfortably around the hilt and he smoothly slid the sword and its sheath out of the plain bag.

Shade couldn't help his eyes growing wide in wonder. The sword was the epitome of beauty and efficiency at the same time. The sword had a thin hilt, wrapped in red cloth that ended in a simple yet delicate petal shaped guard that lent an air of sophistication to the blade. The sword ended with a slightly curved blade reminiscent of the Japanese wakizashi.

An alert once again appeared in front of Shade.

"New item obtained. Uncommon Sword: Petal Storm; Damage of 800, Fast Speed, Extra Damage to Vitals when Undetected. Experience gained: 850 exp."

'This will do _very_ nicely, me thinks….' Shade chuckled to himself, soon breaking out into maniacal laughter.

"MWAHAHAHAHAhahahahaaa…" Shade trailed off. Public attention tends to do that to boisterous attitudes.

Shade cleared his throat and cleared out of the area, strapping his new sword onto his waist for easy access.

Before leaving the guild, he quickly stopped off in the Guild store to sell off the bag of items he gathered on his patrol mission. While he was there he also realized that without a priest on his team, he needed potions. So he used a sizable portion of his gold to fill his potion holsters to the brim with Health, Magic and Stamina potions.

Shade stepped out of the Main Gates of the Guild and inhaled deeply, "This is going to be a good day."

PR-PR-PR-PR

Shade walked through the forest, stepping over logs and through shrubs. He was on a mission and he would not be deterred.

Except for one thing….

"I'm lost! Where the hell is this village supposed to be? They said head north so I went where it was coldest, but I can't find a village anywhere!"

PR-PR-PR-PR

The sun was setting by the time Shade arrived at his destination, a small village in the outskirts of Flower City named Stone Town. The town was empty except for a few military dressed personnel patrolling the streets.

Shade walked up to one of the patrols and stepped forward to question the man for information about the fortress. However, before he could speak, the man accosted him harshly.

"Citizen! What are you doing out of your house? You know the rules about breaking curfew!"

"Excuse me, I'm not from around here," Shade asked, attempting to act unperturbed by the patrol, "Could you point me in the direction of the fortress of Lord Brolof?"

"What business does a lowly peasant like you have with the Master?" The man asked, reaching his hand for his weapon.

"I wouldn't do that," Shade frowned, "I just need information."

The soldier drew his sword and approached Shade, attempting to grab him.

"Come with me, I'll _take _you to Lord Brolof…"

The man neared him with sword drawn and looked quite ready to use it without any qualms. Unfortunately for the hired soldier, Shade didn't like that line of action. Before the man could blink, he heard metal slide against metal before there was a clatter.

The man looked down in surprise and saw that he was missing something.

"AHH! My hand! You bastard, you took my hand!"

The man's eyes were filled with pain and rage and he charged straight at Shade, intent on maiming him. However, due to his pain his movements were predictable and Shade sidestepped him easily. As the man tumbled forward and past Shade's location, Shade casually reached out with his new Sword and stabbed the man neatly through the spine.

The wounded man toppled down, unable to control his movements any longer. A shadow passed over his body as he strained to look up and failed. The last thing he saw before a sharp pain impaled his brain was the sight of a demon reflected in a puddle staring at him with eyes of fire.

PR-PR-PR-PR

A shadow moved silently through the town, killing some of the patrolling guards and capturing others for interrogation. The men were either trained well against breaking to torture or they were completely uninformed about Lord Brolof's actions against the town. Most likely the latter due to the unprofessionalism of the guards he encountered.

By the time Shade arrived at the gates of the fortress that loomed over the town, how had he missed that, all the guards were either unconscious or dead. Sadly, none of them challenged him at all. The only thing he gained was a realization of how powerful his sword was when he went undetected.

Nonetheless, the guards were a source of experience and Shade did level up twice by the time he disposed of all the guards in the village.

But now Shade was faced with a problem. He was standing in front of a massive set of gates leading to a fortress that was surrounded by enormous walls and manned by a legion of guards. This would have been no problem for Shade if he judged by the strength of the men in the town. However, this was an assassination mission and he needed to be stealthy.

Suddenly, Shade jumped behind cover as a patrol of guards walked out of the gates, distracted by each other.

"I swear, next time I get sewer duty two nights in a row, I'm killing the man myself," the tallest one in the group complained, wrapping his arm around the female walking next to him.

"Just shut up and do your job," the next one grumbled, "I've never heard a grown man getting paid for his work complain this much."

"Well maybe if you would take that stick out of your ass, you would want to complain about this shit too," the first replied.

"Shut up! I'm tired of your arguing," the smallest of the group shouted, gaining attention, "This was supposed to be a nice night out, don't ruin it."

Once the patrol had passed far enough away, Shade stepped out from his cover in the tree line and set out to find the sewers.

PR-PR-PR-PR

"Disgusting," Shade muttered, "And these were new boots."

The water in the sewer was a dark brown with clods of unidentified material floated by at above knee level. Shade waded through the underground waste river on the sides in order to keep as much of his body out of the water as possible. A large stench could warn his victim… And he was just disgusted.

Shade had found the entrance to the sewers by the hills near the outer rims of the village. He had quickly entered and followed the tunnel until he found an exit along the wall about 20 minutes in. Gratefully, he opened the door out of the sewers and entered what he soon recognized as a dungeon, most likely to the fortress.

Silently and slowly, Shade moves through the door and then takes time to observe his surroundings.

"God, this is deplorable," Shade started, looking around.

Shade snuck through the dungeon and located two guards sitting at a table playing poker.

"Straight flush, hand over the pot."

"Fuck, I swear you're cheating," the other guard grumbled, "I haven't won a single hand."

"And you'll never get a chance again," heard the man from behind him.

Shade flicked his blade and the man's head flew from his shoulders onto the card table. The other soldier stared for a moment at his partner's decapitated body before he rushed to his feet and drew his sword. It wasn't fast enough though. By the time he reached his feet, he had a gaping hole through his chest into his heart, and grim Shade gripping the blade that was plunged into him.

Shade rapidly searched their bodies and found what he was looking for. He took the ring of keys and walked to the cells that surrounded him on all sides.

The inhabitants were awake due to the noise of fighting and were staring at him like an exotic animal. Shade nodded to all of them and walked over to the metal bars. He looked into their eyes and all he could see was a pool of despair and long lasting emotional pain.

Clink. The keys fit perfectly into the door and Shade twisted, allowing the cell door to slide open. The inmates came rushing out, muttering quick thanks as they regained their bearings.

"Who are you and why were you locked up?" questioned Shade, keeping his hand on his hilt incase one of the despairing inmates attempted to take out their anger.

A young man, no older than 25 walked up to him and began to explain.

"We are all players in the game," the man began, "Brolof locked us into theses cells to sell in his _lucrative_ human trafficking business. However, the game wouldn't let us exit to the real world. Many of us have been stuck here for weeks."

"That," Shade said, "is quite the frightening thought… How could you be prevented from leaving?"

"W don't have the slightest idea, but not that we can leave here, perhaps it will be better. We cannot thank you enough."

The rest of the people who were listening to the discussion nodded in agreement. A few of them even began to remove anything valuable they had on their person, which wasn't much, to thank him. However, Shade halted them and refused any compensation.

Shade turned to them and offered a plan of escape, "You can all leave through the door over there. It leads to the sewer tunnels. It may be filthy but it leads to the outer portion of the town where you can escape. Don't worry about patrols, they are all taken out."

Once again, the people thanked him and began to leave the dungeon through the route he explained. Soon, only one remained, a petite elf girl who looked around his age. She had long blond hair that ran down her frame, accentuating her sharp cheekbones. Her green eyes shown even in the dark light in the room seem to illuminate his soul.

Her piercing gaze soon left him as she glanced to the door that led to the rest of the fortress. "I wish you luck, Brolof is a master at his craft. All I can tell you is that he deals extensively in poison."

Surprised, Shade stared at the girl. "Thank you, I will try to avenge all of you."

The small elf's laughs sounded like bells tolling in a church, "That won't be necessary, but I hope that you prevent him from continuing in his… 'Profession.'"

Shade watched the elf, trying to understand her. She was locked in a cell for God knows how long. However, instead of revenge she just wanted peace for others. She had a pure soul.

"I will try my best." Shade turned on his heels and began the march out of the dungeon. One hand gripped his sword tightly and the other wrapped his cloak tightly around him. He was determined to assassinate Brolof, and he would do it right.

Before the elf's eyes, Shade disappeared into the shadows and ventured into the fortress to complete his mission. Except now it was more than a mission. It was a promise to not only the young elf, but to himself. He _would _find this Lord Brolof and take him down, Master of Poison or not.

As Shade left, the elf stared into the distance silently.

She walked off towards the door to continue what she was there for, but only one thing was on her mind.

"I never asked for his name…"

PR-PR-PR-PR

**AN:** Woops… I started writing this and then stopped halfway through. I'm ashamed. But for recently I couldn't find any new good stories to read and so I remembered this. I hope it was worth the wait, even though I know it wasn't.

From now on I will try to actually write the story. You know, I really did enjoy writing this chapter, so that should help. Add in the fact that school is practically over and you have a done deal.

I'm also working on a new story that I was inspired to start. I had the idea in mind for a long time but an author recently came out with a similar story and it spurred me into action. If you like Naruto, you may like it.

I hope to have another chapter out for this story soon.

Eric_The_Blue, signing out.


End file.
